Cedric's Bad Day
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: Cedric is just having an all-around horrible day, and it may just get the best of him. (Last story for a while... Hope you all enjoy it! Stay warm and well wherever you are! :) :D)


Cedric's Bad Day

Summary: Cedric is just having an all-around horrible day, and it may just get the best of him. (As requested by Royal Detective quite some time ago! Lol, sorry it took so long, RD! :D)

A/N: Bonus points and a granted opportunity for a story request (must be K-rated material, of course) to anyone who can name the painting in the background of the cover picture. ;) Hint: It is a very famous painting created by a rather eccentric Spanish artist. :)

"This is just terrible, Wormy!" Cedric complained to his long-time friend as he threw his hands up in the air in surrender. "I give up. Clearly I'm not good at this new form of spells my father wants me to learn, so why do I even bother?"

Wormwood just blinked and watched his master go into slight hysterics. This was bound to get interesting.

"I mean, all I have to do is alter the formula set forth by the original creator and establish a new one to manipulate spells. But I can't even do that!" He looked toward his raven in curiosity. "I don't suppose you could, hmm?"

The raven shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"That's what I thought…"

"Mr. Cedric!" Sofia called, panting as she opened his door in a much more disruptive manner than usual.

Cedric yelped and tripped over his own robe, falling flat on his face. He sighed and raised his head, blowing his bangs out of his eyes as he looked up at his apprentice pointedly. "Yes, Sofia?" he asked in a tired voice.

"Come on! You're going to miss it!" She quickly helped him up and took his hand, pulling him out of the workshop and down the stairs.

As they were hurrying along, Cedric inquired, "Mind telling me what's got you in such a rush?"

She grinned. "You'll see!" She paused at the doorway to the throne room and pointed toward Amber, who had a feather duster in her hand and was humming happily while dusting various sections of the room.

"Dear heavens," Cedric breathed in surprise.

"I know…"

"Is she cursed by any chance?" he wondered, making Sofia giggle.

"I think Dad told her if she helped out a little bit, he'd reward her with another unicorn. And James is cleaning the stables."

He raised an eyebrow at her as they left back down the hallway. "And what are you going to do to earn some extra reward?"

"Nothing," she responded with a smile and a shrug. "I have everything I could ever want. And I figure I do a good bit of helping out…"

"You do," he admitted, smiling at her. He wasn't paying attention when he ran head first into Baileywick, knocking them both down and making the steward drop a rather large and expensive vase, the artifact shattering into irreparable pieces on the floor.

"Cedric!" Baileywick sighed as he held a hand to his head, his eyes widened in worry. "Look what we've done! Oh, the king won't be happy about this at all."

"I'm sure Mr. Cedric can repair it," Sofia said calmly, trying to ease the older man's worries. "Right, Mr. Cedric?"

"Maybe…" He reached into his robe and groaned, realizing he'd left his Family Wand in the case upstairs. "…If only I had my wand with me."

At that moment, Roland entered the room and gasped at the mess on the floor. "Baileywick! What happened to my grandmother's vase?"

Sofia stood before both of her friends and held her hands clasped together. "Dad, it was an accident," she explained. "Mr. Cedric and Baileywick accidentally ran into each other, and he dropped the vase."

"Cedric, can you fix this?" the king asked as he looked toward the sorcerer.

"I could… But I left my wand in my workshop, and at the moment I can't remember the spell that would repair something that's shattered so badly…" He sighed, feeling rather silly admitting something like that.

"I thought sorcerers could do anything."

Cedric felt like rolling his eyes at the ludicrous assumption, but instead he replied with, "While I appreciate the vote of confidence, you'd be surprised what we _cannot_ do, Your Majesty…"

The king lamented this news and held a hand to his head. "At least try… And did you finish the decorations for Miranda's birthday party for tomorrow night?"

Cedric's eyes widened. He'd completely forgotten about that. "It's, um…a work in progress…"

Roland sighed. "Cedric, I'm going to need you to start focusing more and quit playing around all the time. And if that means we have to cut back on your lessons with Sofia—"

"No, Dad!" Sofia pleaded, looking at him in surprise. "Don't take my lessons with Mr. Cedric away. They're so much fun and so interesting, and…and I want—"

"Sofia, sometimes the good of the kingdom must come before what we want. I'm sure Cedric understands that quite well."

"Indeed, Your Majesty," he agreed with a frown. "I do." He turned and walked away, sighing as he realized Sofia was following him in concern.

Roland shook his head as he helped Baileywick to his feet. "Was I too hard on them?"

"Maybe a tad, Your Majesty," the steward said calmly, waving toward a few of the servants with brooms and dust pans.

"It's just…let's face it. Cedric is not Goodwin. He never has been quite as efficient as his father."

"Hold on, Your Majesty." Baileywick pulled him aside and looked the king in the eye. "I realize Cedric may be a bit much sometimes, and he does have quite a few flaws, but he means well. I mean, we argue back and forth, and we have differences of course, but I know he's a good sorcerer. If he wasn't, Sofia wouldn't have learned _anything_ from him…"

Roland took this information in and nodded. "I suppose you're right. I don't really plan to take her lessons away. She'd actually probably never forgive me." He chuckled lightly before sighing. "I just wish Cedric would be more proficient in his job."

"I'm sure he will be. Just give him a chance, like you did with me." He smiled and left, leaving the king to his thoughts.

"Mr. Cedric, slow down!" Sofia requested as she hurried up the stairs behind him.

"I believe your father made it quite clear that he'd rather you not be around me so I can do what must be done around here." He paused at the door and watched as she held onto the wall to catch her breath. "Besides, if I'm not getting any better at this, maybe I should just quit…" He opened the door and walked inside, unable to shut it as Sofia rushed in behind him.

"Quit?" she asked in shock. "Mr. Cedric, you're not _really_ going to quit, are you?"

He shrugged as he picked up his Family Wand and looked it over. "I see no reason to stay, Princess Sofia."

She frowned and put her hands on her hips. "So you've had a bad day. We've all had bad days. It's part of life… But running away isn't going to solve the problem."

"I'm not running away," he told her as he turned to see her staring him down. "I'm facing facts, Sofia… Clearly I'm not cut out for this job. We both know that I've had quite a nice run of good luck the past two years, but honestly…maybe I was meant to do something else."

"You can't just leave, Mr. Cedric!" Sofia walked over to the table he stood behind and put her hands on it as she continued, "Who's going to…to teach me magic?"

He scoffed and twirled his wand. "The fairies," he suggested.

"Who's going to tell me the story of Wassailia this year?" She wasn't giving up. He was going to listen to her if it was the last thing she did.

"Your mother?" He waved a hand half-heartedly. "Baileywick, perhaps?"

Sofia's face was crestfallen as he seemed to not pick up on her desperation. "…Who's going to believe in me when others don't?" This seemed to get his attention as his eyes widened slightly. "And rescue me if an enemy tries to steal my amulet?" She clasped her hands around her amulet gently. "…And be my best friend?"

"Sofia…"

"I can't just replace you, Mr. Cedric. You've become much more than a teacher or a mentor. You're my friend; you're part of my family. And I don't give up on family, so I don't want you to give up either."

Cedric watched her carefully before placing the wand onto the table and sighing, walking next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "…You really believe in me that much, Sofia?"

"I do," she responded quietly before reaching out and hugging him. "I love you, Mr. Cedric," she whispered.

Cedric froze. Those weren't words he heard often except from his parents every now and then. But hearing them from his apprentice—the one who had done more for him than anyone else and had deemed _him_ of all people as her closest friend—meant a lot more than he thought it ever would. He smiled and returned the hug, patting her back gently when he heard her sigh in relief. "Thank you, Sofia." He looked toward her after they ended their hug and laughed once. "You really are relentless."

"I think it's my best quality," she responded in a matter-of-fact manner, which made him laugh more. She grinned. "Does that mean you're staying?"

"How could I leave after all that?" He reached over and took his wand, gripping it tightly. "Let's go fix your father's vase."

Sofia smiled happily and took his hand as they walked out of the workshop together. "So that means you love me too," she informed him with a giggle.

"No, that means I _tolerate_ you better than others," he corrected, though his tone was lighthearted.

The princess laughed. "Whatever you say, Mr. Cedric."

Meanwhile, back in the workshop, Wormwood rolled his eyes as he tried to get comfortable on his perch again after having witnessed the scene from earlier. "Humans are so full of drama," he complained as he yawned and tucked his head down for a nap.

The end! :)

A/N: Well, I hope this was a nice read for everyone. :) I'm immersed in school and grad school again, so I may not be around as often. BUT graduation is coming up soon, so that's something to look forward to! Also, I'm not sure how temperatures are where everyone else lives, but it's about to get very cold where I am, and that's really unusual. So everyone stay warm and bundled up! No freezing! Lol. Have a good week, and I'll see you all soon. ~AquaTurquoise (PS—Don't forget my challenge up above. I wonder if anyone knows the painting…hmm! :D)


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